Condi Rice expected on NCAA playoff panel

Saturday

Oct 5, 2013 at 1:15 AMOct 5, 2013 at 4:15 AM

NEW YORK — Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to be part of the selection committee that will pick the teams for the College Football Playoff next year, a person with direct knowledge of the process told The Associated Press.

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to be part of the selection committee that will pick the teams for the College Football Playoff next year, a person with direct knowledge of the process told The Associated Press.

Former Mississippi and New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning, former Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Gould, the former Air Force Academy superintendent, and former NCAA executive Tom Jernstedt, who worked with the basketball tournament selection committee, also are expected to be part of the new 12-to-18 member football panel, the person said Friday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the selection process is still ongoing.

The committee is expected to be comprised of current athletic directors and former college athletic administrators and coaches. The playoff will replace the Bowl Championship Series, which is in its final season after years of criticism and controversy. The committee will select the top four teams to play in national semifinals. The winners will play for the national championship.

Rice already has a link to sports — and a green jacket.

Last year, she and business executive Darla Moore became the first two female members of Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters.

Attempts to reach Rice through Stanford University, where she is a professor, were not immediately successful, nor were attempts to reach Jernstedt. Gould declined comment through an Air Force Academy spokesman.

BCS executive director Bill Hancock declined to confirm the names.

"The process is not finished," Hancock said. "And we're in a very good place. When it is finished, we will announce the names of the members."

The commissioners are scheduled to meet Nov. 11 in Washington, and an official announcement about the committee could come then.